Remember that your comparison essay is due no later than Friday, May 23rd (450-600 words, make sure you follow the format discussed in class and the rubric from your Night package)

Your book review (in proper format, 300-450 words) is due Monday, May 26th.

Your introduction to Poetry package can be found here.

Today we will be starting The Pianist in class.  This will be a guided journey for those who have returned the permission form.

Before we start the movie, you will need this Activity Guide.  It would be a good idea to look over the questions before the film starts.

Today we will start the Facebook pages for the main characters that you selected in class today.  You are expected to at least have 2 status updates (and responses for your character) completed by the end of the period.

You will create your Facebook page using a cool website called Fakebook, which was designed for students to create pages for fictional characters.  A handout which lists the expectations, tips and the evaluation scheme for the assignment can be found here.

March Break is almost here (I am sure you can almost smell it...).  Before your mind drifts any further, we need to focus during class and get a few things done.

Today we will be: 1) picking our books for GHSS reads  2) reading our last short story (Lamb to the Slaughter) and answer some questions 3) start the process of writing our own unique short story (you'll need this rubric too)


The video is old..but it might help with your understanding of the characterization and setting of the story.

As part of the short story unit, we are also looking at the main components of a newspaper article and how to  write an effective example (using the always fun tabloid format).  The rubric for this assignment can be found here.

Resources:
Funny Examples of Newpaper Headlines (probably not intentional, but rather poor editorial choices)
How To Write a Great Newspaper Article
Various Newspaper Templates for MS Word

Today we are going to look at the concept of "atmosphere" and use this worksheet as a centre for our discussion.

We are also going to explore character traits, and work on the rough draft of our Venn Diagram assignment.

I know all of you have been eagerly waiting for the Poetry Summative Assignment rubric....well, wait no longer...it can be found here.  Your completed portfolio will be due no later than Wednesday, January 16th.

Our last activity with the short story unit is to take one of the short stories from your anthology that we have not read as a class and turn it into a comic book.  One of the tools we will be looking at is Bitstrips, but you may generate the comic book in any form you think is appropriate (and up to your artistic abilities).  The rubric for this assignment can be found here.

This assignment is to be completed with a partner (try to pick someone who compliments both your learning style and your abilities (ie. they work as hard as you do, but while you have strong language skills they are a better artist).

This wiki has some good ideas to get you started.